The STEM BEST® Program fosters a learning environment where students are able to participate in real workplace projects designed by business professionals and teachers and apply K-12 science, technology, engineering and mathematics to skills, knowledge and behaviors needed for STEM careers.

Awards are used for equipping collaborative work spaces, educator training and development in workplace-classroom integration and curriculum development and coordination.

The 2018 STEM BEST® Program awardees in the Northeast Iowa STEM Region are:

Allamakee Community School District

Cedar Falls Community School District

Central Community School District

Each awardee will serve as a model to share unique perspective, strengths, demographics and program focus with others schools across the state.

Iowa high school students who take part in an Iowa STEM
BEST® (Businesses Engaging Students and Teachers) program now have the opportunity to earn scholarship money from the University of Northern Iowa (UNI).

High school seniors need to apply for admission to UNI and submit the UNI Scholarship Application by the deadline during their senior year. (Note: January 15, 2019 is the deadline for the class of 2019.) Students must identify as an Iowa STEM BEST® completer on their UNI Scholarship Application. Students who do not receive UNI's Distinguished Scholars Award will be offered a $500 scholarship ($125 per year, renewable for 4 years) to UNI.

Bring your whole family to the Cedar Valley Family STEM Festival on Thursday, November 8 from 4:00 to 7:30 PM at the Waterloo Convention Center (formerly known as the Five Sullivan Brothers Convention Center) in Waterloo.

Application details are now available for Computer Science is Elementary. The project will transform six high-poverty elementary schools across Iowa into models of innovative computer science instruction by the 2020-2021 school year. A growing number of jobs require computer science skills. This program will help prepare students for success in computer science and future careers opportunities.

School districts and non-public school systems with an elementary building of at least 40 percent of students eligible for free- and reduced-price lunch are eligible to apply. Six awardees will be selected to receive a $50,000 planning award through a competitive award application process. One Computer Science is Elementary School will be located in each of the six regionsestablished by the Iowa Governor's STEM Advisory Council.

The application period will open in January 2019 and awards will be announced in the summer of 2019. The 2019-2020 school year will be used as a planning year for schools to weave computational thinking and other elements of computer science into their broader curriculum. After the Computer Science is Elementary Schools launch in August 2020, the schools will serve as a statewide resource for Iowa educators by sharing their curriculum and community engagement strategies.

The application template and additional information about the Computer Science is Elementary project can be found at www.IowaSTEM.gov/CSElementary.

The Northeast Iowa Family STEM Festival in Fayette was Awesome!!

Awesome, was just one of the comments we received on October 18 when 26 exhibitors provided hands-on STEM activities during the Northeast Iowa Family STEM Festival in Fayette.

Highlights:

Total attendance: 378 (254 were 18 years of age or younger)

Cities/towns represented: 28

School Districts represented: 19

77 percent of attendees had not attended a STEM festival in the past.

Comments from attendees:

All of it was great!

Fun Activities!!!

Great Way to Learn!!

Had an awesome time.

It was great

Very Fun

Great event-thanks!

On behalf of the planning committee, I want to thank the organizations that exhibited and shared their talents with the families throughout Northeast Iowa.